> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2017/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:12.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:12.000Z - Description: Under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder," 118 of 130 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 pleaded guilty and 12 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 120 months after a guilty plea and 294.5 months after a trial. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder/) › §2A2.1: FY2017 **In brief:** Under §2A2.1, "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder," 118 of 130 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 pleaded guilty and 12 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 120 months after a guilty plea and 294.5 months after a trial. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 130 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017\. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Guilty Pleas Compared With Trial Convictions The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 130 people in fiscal year 2017 with §2A2.1 as the primary guideline. 118 (91%) pleaded guilty. The other 12 were convicted after a trial. Prison terms after trial convictions had a median of 294.5 months. Terms after guilty pleas had a median of 120 months. The records do not show whether the cases differed in other ways, so the gap is a description and not a measure of any trial penalty. Among the guilty pleas, 83% included a written plea agreement and 15% were straight pleas. ## Overall Prison Terms All 130 people (100%) were sent to prison, and 0 (0%) received probation only. The median prison term was 120 months, or 10 years. A quarter received 198 months or more, and a quarter received 96.2 months or less. 2 people received life sentences. The terms are those imposed, not time served. ## Mandatory Minimums A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 37 of the 130 people (28%). The records do not show which cases carried one or how it affected the term imposed. ## Where Sentences Fell Compared With the Range All 130 people had range information. 43% (56) were sentenced within the guideline range. 31% (40) were below it at the government's request, and 23% (30) were below it without a request. 3% (4) were above it. Across every guideline in 2017, 49% of sentences were within the range, so the §2A2.1 share was lower. ## After Release and Financial Orders 128 people (98%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. 3 people (2%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 3 (2%), and restitution for 24 (18%). ## Criminal History and Counting Rules 19% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 22% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. A person is counted under the guideline that set the offense level for the most serious count. Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017, and only convicted and sentenced people are included. ## Fiscal Year 2017 in Context In 2016 there were 80 people with a median of 120.5 months. In 2018 there were 112 people with a median of 136 months. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,534 people were sentenced under §2A2.1, and 88% pleaded guilty. The table has each year. For all guidelines in 2017, 66,873 people were sentenced, and the median prison term was 24 months. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 80 | 120.5 months | 86% | | 2017 | 130 | 120 months | 91% | | 2018 | 112 | 136 months | 90% | | 2019 | 169 | 120 months | 89% | | 2020 | 126 | 120 months | 85% | | 2021 | 115 | 120 months | 92% | | 2022 | 182 | 120 months | 87% | | 2023 | 201 | 120 months | 87% | | 2024 | 226 | 125 months | 90% | | 2025 | 193 | 137 months | 83% | ## What Cannot Be Concluded The records cannot show the facts behind the cases. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so the numbers are federal only. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A2.1 (130), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records. ### What to Keep in Mind **No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct.** Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987\. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served. **Federal supervised release.** Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial. **Who decides the sentence, and under what rules.** Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart. **Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually. **How life sentences and "time served" are counted.** In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less. **Mandatory minimum sentences.** Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge. ## Related Analysis - [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder/) (overview) - [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2016/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2A2.1 Assault with Intent to Commit Murder: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a2-1-assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder-fy2018/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) **About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.